Plan to boost Indian electrical equipment industry

With an objective to reduce the power demand-supply gap in the country, under the aegis of the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI), and with support from Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEEMA), the government had drawn up ‘Mission Plan 2012-2022’ in consultation with all the key stakeholders. The plan lays down roadmap to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic electrical equipment sector.

The government has said that the proposed eleven year mission plan to boost the sagging electrical equipment industry will be ready by April 2012.

IEEMA has engaged Ernst & Young to be the knowledge partner in this exercise. A base document ‘Indian Electrical Equipment Industry Mission Plan 2012-2022’, was released by the union minister of heavy industries & public enterprises at the IEEMA annual convention held in last September at Mumbai.

The base document identified 14 strategic initiatives and, subsequently, five working groups, with representation of relevant government ministries/departments and industry nominees, had been constituted to formulate the recommended interventions in all these areas.

The working groups are - on upgrade technology to meet future requirement, enhancement of industry competitiveness, conversion of latent demand into actual demand, skill development and exports of electrical equipment.

Base papers are being prepared for the working groups to deliberate upon and finalise the recommended interventions in their respective areas. Once the recommended interventions are finalised, these will be dovetailed into the final mission plan and presented to the development council for Heavy Electrical & Allied Industries. The mission plan is slated to be finalised in about three months’ time, a PIB report said.

The electrical equipment industry in India has a long and chequered history. Clocked 11.3 percent growth last fiscal, it covers over 1,500 units of varying sizes, amounting for an annual turnover of about Rs 1,10,000 crores. It amounts for about Rs. 20,000 crores of annual exports and about Rs. 32,000 crores of annual imports; it has a negative trade balance which has been increasing in recent times.

Because of its heterogeneous character, the domestic electrical equipment industry, despite its critical role in the economy, has not received focussed attention of the policy makers. Similarly, the numerous stakeholders, including the manufacturers, have not evolved a strategic action plan for the industry’s growth and development and have focussed only on piecemeal short-term tactical measures.

The Rs 52,000-crore industry, which sells cables, switchgears, transformers and other large electrical products, saw a major part of its growth come in the second half of 2009-10, after liquidity improved and companies resumed expansion plans.